Could another Hastert be in line for a run at the 14th Congressional District seat?

Ethan Hastert, the 31-year-old son of former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, confirmed Friday that he has started meeting local leaders and introducing himself as a potential candidate. He said he has made no decisions yet.

Hastert's father held the far west suburban seat for nearly 21 years, serving as speaker from 1999 to 2007.

Ethan Hastert is an associate at Mayer Brown LLP in Chicago. He worked for more than a year in then-Vice President Dick Cheney's office.

I made a suggestion in a thread last week with respect to the IL Governor’s race that he’d make an excellent candidate for that in ‘10 (especially since there has been squabbling over which candidate seemed sufficiently Conservative and reform-minded). Nobody complained.

6
posted on 04/18/2009 11:46:05 PM PDT
by fieldmarshaldj
(~"This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps !"~~)

Hastert is a typical IL politican. Denny and Ethan want to do want what the Dems do all the time.

Mike Madigan strong armed donors into supporting his step duaghter for AG. William Lipinski resigned from the House after winning the primary to install his son. Emil Jones did the same trash. Ditto for John Stroger. This has got to stop.

RINO governors often backfire. If Kirk decides to leave the House, he should run for the Senate, where our situation is dire. As for his House seat, the GOP has some state legislators who could run strong races.

14
posted on 04/19/2009 5:29:12 PM PDT
by Clintonfatigued
(Being condemned for corruption by Mexico is like being lectured on morals by the adult film industry)

Kirk’s seat was made more Republican in 2002 then it had been. It would be difficult making it more so. Although a good chunk of the 3rd (rat) district is Republican and could be used to rejigger things a little.

Of course unless there is a Republican Governor the rats will control redistricting and will go nuts. Only retarded Republican mappers give safer seats to powerful rats (see 2002 John Murtha) who they could hurt.

Lauzen was the victim of a smear campaign (which included disparities on his ethnic heritage), was opposed by the RINORat Combine (including Hastert), and massively outspent. He was also the only one of the two that could’ve handily won that Congressional seat.

19
posted on 04/19/2009 10:34:52 PM PDT
by fieldmarshaldj
(~"This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps !"~~)

Lauzen was the victim of a smear campaign (which included disparities on his ethnic heritage), was opposed by the RINORat Combine (including Hastert), and massively outspent. He was also the only one of the two that couldve handily won that Congressional seat.

Oberweis is a rich, flipflopping liberal a$$hole who has never even been able to win an office. Unlike Lauzen, who has been elected since 1992 to the IL State Senate. Oberweis’s disgusting and sleazy conduct during the campaign resulted in his loss in the special (and an even wider loss in the general when he refused to step aside). But, hey, the GOP faction of the Combine is always happy to have a Democrat win in the absence of a corrupt RINO, and they got their wish.

24
posted on 04/20/2009 4:16:49 AM PDT
by fieldmarshaldj
(~"This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps !"~~)

Oberweis is a rich, flipflopping liberal a$$hole who has never even been able to win an office.

Oh hell, I know that. The 14th District run was what, his third or fourth attempt at national office? He won the nomination because he had money and the name. And that might be enough to get Hastert the younger the nomination, too.

I lost count how many times he tried to run. He wanted to be Governor, but just kept looking for the next available office. He just simply bought the nomination with the help of Hastert. Despite my dislike for the guy's lack of any core principles (nevermind his sleazy attacks on Lauzen), I thought he might similarly be able to win buy the special, too... that was until someone privately sent me his and Dem Foster's personal approval ratings days before the election.

When I saw that (as opposed to strictly a head-to-head matchup, which many believed Oberweis would close), it was astonishing. The GOP managed to put up a guy with toxic personal numbers, probably the most unpopular major GOP candidate in the state of IL. Foster's were high, too, as they would be for a Dem in a GOP district, but they weren't as high as Oberweis's (a similar high-profile comparison would be between Bill Nelson in FL and Katherine Harris. Nelson had about 50% disapprovals, but KH's were something over 60-70% (with literally half the GOP giving her negs), and she predictably lost in a landslide against the most unpopular Senate Dem incumbent up in '06). I knew he was going to lose. If I were the Dems, I'd want this guy nominated for every major office in IL. He's like a goldmine for them.

26
posted on 04/20/2009 4:53:33 AM PDT
by fieldmarshaldj
(~"This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps !"~~)

Who should oppose Rep. Foster? I think that State Sen. J. Bradley Burzynski, of Sycamore, is conservative, and he’s been a state senator since 1993. He won a four-year term in 2008, so he could run for a higher office, in 2010, without leaving his legislative seat.

While PA Republicans’ love for Murtha’s pork ended up hurting us, it was because it led to them not making Murtha’s redrawn seat Democratic enough. In order to draw a more Republican PA-18 so that we could pick up the seat, they had to pack Democrats into the PA-12, but Murtha didn’t want to get too many Democrats from Washington County because he was afraid he’s lose against Democrat Congressman Frank Mascara in the primary, which led to the PA-18, PA-04 and PA-03 being less Republican than we could have drawn them, which has already cost us two of those districts (the PA-04 in 2006 and the PA-03 in 2008).

29
posted on 04/20/2009 7:37:17 AM PDT
by AuH2ORepublican
(Fred Thompson appears human-sized because he is actually standing a million miles away.)

In 2002, Obie ran for the Senate. During the primary, he compared Catholic Bishops to the Taliban. After losing the primary, he apologized to pro-life groups and claimed he was pro-life all the time.

In 2004, he tried running for the Senate again. This time, he supported constitutional bans on abortion and gay marriage. He also ran ads blaming illegals for everything. The media was quick to blast him. He instantly became the darling of the Right for being the only IL candidate to raise the illegal immigration issue. The media did some investigative reporting and found that Oberweis Dairy hired illegals. Thus, Oberweis fell in the polls.

In 2005, Oberweis ran for Kane County GOP Chair. He lost.

In 2006, Oberweis ran for Governor. He portrayed himself as a successful business man and political outsider. He called himself the true conservative and entitled to the nomination. IL GOP primary felt differently and rejected him.

In 2008, Oberweis ran for Hastert’s seat. He got Hastert’s backing. Oberweis spent $3 million of his own money to blast Lauzen. When the primary ended, Oberweis ran out of money and begged the NRCC to spend $2 million in the general election. He lost due to people getting tired of slash and burn campaign style. After losing in Nov 08, he finally got the hint and said he’s done with politics.

He won two separate offices, that of County Attorney (at only 23 !) for 8 years, and then the MN Governorship three times (1938, 1940 & 1942) and resigned early in 1943. So that was either 5 or 7 successful general election wins (I don’t know if County Attorney was for 2 or 4 year terms, MN still had 2 year terms for Governor then).

He relocated to Pennsylvania and was still regarded as a fairly serious candidate. He ran for the 1958 Gubernatorial nomination there, placing second (had he gotten the nod, he might very well have won the general as his opponent only lost by less than 2% to George Leader. That would’ve been a first in the 20th century of a man winning the Governorship in two separate states). He was given the 1959 Philadelphia GOP nod for Mayor, but lost 2-to-1. His forays were less serious after that. But I don’t believe Stassen ever flipped his politics to suit an audience (as Oberweis has). Stassen was always a liberal Republican.

35
posted on 04/20/2009 11:37:54 PM PDT
by fieldmarshaldj
(~"This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps !"~~)

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